The Snooper’s Charter

But civil liberties groups have long criticized the bill, with some arguing that the law will let the UK government “document everything we do online”.

It’s no wonder, because it basically does.

The law will force internet providers to record every internet customer’s top-level web history in real-time for up to a year, which can be accessed by numerous government departments; force companies to decrypt data on demand — though the government has never been that clear on exactly how it forces foreign firms to do that that; and even disclose any new security features in products before they launch.

Well that sounds … terrible.

Fake News

Paul Horner — the 38-year-old self-made titan of a fake news empire on Facebook — is claiming responsibility for pushing Donald Trump to the White House, and says he has no plans to stop publishing fake news.

In an interview with The Washington Post, Horner attributed his success to Trumps’ particular base of supporters. He is the man behind such viral headlines as “The Amish in America Commit their Vote to Donald Trump” and “President Obama Signs Executive Order Banning the National Anthem at all Sporting Events Nationwide” — neither of which were true.

“My sites were picked up by Trump supporters all the time. I think Trump is in the White House because of me. His followers don’t fact-check anything — they’ll post everything, believe anything. His campaign manager posted my story about a protester getting paid $3,500 as fact. Like, I made that up. I posted a fake ad on Craigslist,” he told The Washington Post.

It’s this kind of thing that has me trying to decide if I should abandon Facebook for good. There’s just too much ridiculous idiocy on there, and I feel bad seeing so many of my friends buying into it all the time. Trying to convince them that nonsense is nonsense rarely works and I end up feeling like a nag after a while. So it just piles up in my newsfeed and my estimation of my friends’ judgement erodes.

Patting Myself On The Back

Drum: Final Polls Show Clinton With Strong Lead

cleek 9 days ago
since we still don’t elect President by national vote: no, i don’t feel better. and President Gore wishes people would quit pretending national polls matter one bit.

Drum: Weekly Pol Update Slight Tightening But Clinton Still Comfortably Ahead

cleek • 12 days ago
this just in : President Gore wants everyone to remember that President is still not elected via national popular vote.

On unskewing 538:

cleek … 14 days ago
an X point lead in a national poll is meaningless since we don’t elect President with a national vote.

all that matters are the individual state polls.

On the meaning of a single national poll:

cleek … 15 days ago
presidents are not elected by national vote. the only polls that matter are polls of individual states.

Drum: Poll Tightening? Meh

cleek 16 days ago
there is still no national vote for President.

On how much national polls matter:

cleek 2 months ago
polls don’t actually matter at all.

all that matters are the results of the 50 state races.

Listening To…

I just wrote a long Listening To post but FYWP ate it.

Here’s the short version:

  • Beatles – Live At The Hollywood Bowl. Beatles live in 1964-65, in front of four trillion screaming girls! More fun than the BBC sessions or the final ‘rooftop’ concert-ish thing. Faster, more raw, fun! 4 things!
  • Norah Jones – Day Break. She goes back to the sound that made her a coffeehousehold name – that warm and fuzzy jazz/pop/country sound. Good, if not quite as catchy as Come Away With Me. 3 things!
  • Steady Holiday – Under The Influence. Dreamy, sad and sweet with whispered vocals and spacey guitars. Somehow finds a place between early Portishead and late Blonde Redhead – spacey and chilly yet delicate and intimate. 4 things!
  • The Pretty Things – The Pretty Things. Do you need more rough and raw early rock in your life? Think Elvis was too hammy and the early Stones were too wimpy? This is the band for you! 3 things!

You?

Then Why Did You Run?

Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson has told President-elect Donald Trump that he isn’t interested in serving as secretary of Health and Human Services, a Carson ally confirmed to The Hill on Tuesday.

Business manager and close friend Armstrong Williams said Carson won’t join the incoming Trump administration and would only serve as an unofficial adviser.

Circa on Tuesday reported that Carson had been offered the position, citing Williams. But Williams told The Hill that no specific offer had been made.

“Dr. Carson was never offered a specific position, but everything was open to him,” Williams told The Hill in a phone call. ”

Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he’s never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.“

But he ran for President.

Ha ha. Good one. Joke’s on all the saps who gave him money, I guess.